Electric guitar incorporating removable pedal-mounting means



C. L. FENDER Nov. 21, 1961 ELECTRIC GUITAR INCORPORATING REMOVABLEPEDAL-MOUNTING MEANS Filed Jan. 6, 1959 INVENTOR. (hype/v05 l. IZWQEE 47ro/ewa United States Patent ELECTRIC GUITAR INCORPORATING REMOV- ABLEPEDAL-MOUNTING MEANS Clarence L. Fender, 2212 E. Revere, Fullerton,Calif. Filed Jan. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 785,189 Claims. (Cl. 84-267) Thisinvention relates to an electric guitar incorporating removablepedal-mounting means, and more particularly relates to the clampbrackets at the ends of the pedal board of a pedal guitar.

Electric guitars of the pedal type, in which the string tension and thusthe pitch of the strings is controlled by means of foot pedals operatedby a seated guitarist, should be adapted to be readily assembled anddisassembled to facilitate transportation between various locationswhere performances are to be given. Thus, the guitar should be capableof assembly and disassembly in a matter of a few minutes, even by amusician who is mechanically unskilled and has little or no tools.

In a prior electric pedal guitar invented by the present applicant, theentire body is adapted to be stored and transported in one case, whereasthe legs, pedal board and pull rods are adapted to be stored andtransported in a second case. The guitar body is stored in invertedposition in the first-mentioned case, so that upon opening of such casethe legs may be threaded into the underside of the body. Thereafter, thepedal board is mounted on the upwardly-extending legs, and the pull rodsare mounted and adjusted. It has been discovered that the mounting ofthe pedal board onto the guitar legs, by means of clamp brackets, hasbeen the least simple part of the above-described assembly procedure.Accordingly, it is highly desirable that clamp brackets be providedwhich may be assembled and disassembled by a mechanically unskilledguitarist in a few seconds, yet which will remain rigidly in positionduring playing of the instrument.

In view of the above factors relative to pedal guitars and the like,incorporating removable pedal boards, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved electric guitar construction in whichclamp brackets are provided at the pedal board ends and are capable ofassembly and disassembly relative to the guitar legs in a very shortperiod oftirne and without the use of tools.

A further objectis to provide a clamp bracket which is highly simple andeconomical to manufacture and is very easy to assemble with the guitarlegs, yet which effects rigid connection between the pedal board and theguitar legs during playing of the instrument.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be morefully set forth in the following specification and the. claims,considered in connection with the attached drawing to which they relate.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a rear perspective view of an electric pedal guitarincorporating clamp brackets constructed in accordance with the presentinvention, the body of the guitar being indicated only schematically;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view illustrating one ofthe clamp brackets in assembled condition with a front leg of theguitar;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE2; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line P4 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to FIGURE 1, an electricpedal guitar is illustrated schematically as comprising a body havingfour tubular metal legs 11 at the respective corners thereof. A pedalboard 12 is removably secured between the front legs of the instrumentby means of clamp brackets 13. A plurality of pedals 14 3,009,378Patented Nov. 21, 1961 are mounted on the rear surface of the pedalboard 12, and are connected to pull rods indicated at 16.

Proceeding next to a detailed description of each of the clamp brackets13, which are identical in construction except that they are left andright, a semi-cylindrical or semi-tubular (U-sectioned) metal back-upelement 17 is best illustrated in FIGURE 3 as having a generallyrectangular base or flange portion 18 extending perpendicularly from oneedge thereof. The back-up element 17 is sufliciently large to fit arounda lower end portion of leg 11, whereas the base portion 18 is secured tothe rear vertical surface of pedal board 12 at one end thereof as by ascrew 19 (FIGURE 4).

A generally triangular metallic clamp plate 21 is pivotally associated,at its lower apex portion, with the base 18 and parallel thereto. Thepivotal connection comprises a pivot bolt 22 which extends rearwardlythrough holes in the pedal board 12, base 18 and clamp plate 21. A wingnut 23 is threaded over the rearwardly-projecting end of bolt 22. Asecond bolt 24 is extended through pedal board 12 and base 18, andthrough an arcuate slot 26 provided in clamp plate 21 in spacedconcentric relationship above bolt 22. A wing nut 27 is threaded overthe second bolt 24.

An integral ear 28 extends rearwardly from one corner portion of clampplate 21, generally in line with the slot 26, to form an actuatingsurface against which the thumb of the operator may be pressed in ordertopivot the clamp plate about pivot bolt 22. Thus, the clamp plate maybe pivoted between the clamping position shown in the drawing, and arelease position at which the clamp plate is pivoted to the right (asviewed in FIGURE 2) until it is no longer adjacent the leg 11.

An elongated leaf spring 29, which is suitably slotted to receive thebolts 22 and 24, is mounted between the base 18 and the clamp plate 21.The normal or free shape of spring 29 is curved or angular, so that itsends press rearwardly (to the left as viewed in FIGURE 4) upon the upperand lower edge portions of clamp plate 21.

A protrusion 31 (FIGURES 2 and 3) is formed on the rear surface of base18 at the side of bolts 22 and 24 remote from leg 11, and at anintermediate elevation. Referring particularly to FIGURE 3, it ispointed out that when the clamp plate 21 is tightened by means of wingnuts 23 and 27, one edge of the clamp plate is disposed on protrusion 31and the other edge thereof is disposed on the surface of leg 11. Theclamp plate 21 is thus bridged between the protrusion 31 and the leg,there being point contact with the protrusion and line contact with theleg. This provides, in eifect, a three-point relationship insuring themaximum clamping action.

Operation Let it be assumed that the guitar body 10 and legs 11 areinitially in inverted condition, and that pedal board 12 has not yetbeen mounted. Let it further be assumed that the wing nuts 27 and 2'3 ofeach clamp bracket 13 are loosened, and that clamp plates 21 are pivotedinwardly to release positions (to the right as viewed in FIGURE 2).

It is then merely necessary for the guitarist to move the pedal board 12until back-up elements 17 are disposed around the ends of front legs 11.He then presses his thumbs outwardly against cars 28 to effect outwardpivoting of clamp plates 21 (to the left in FIGURE 2) to the illustratedclamping positions at which the pedal board 12 is prevented from fallingaway from the legs. Sliding of the brackets down the inverted legs isprevented by stop collars 32 (FIGURE 2) formed around the legsimmediately adjacent the edges of the clamp brackets.

The musician then tightens the wing nuts 27 and 23 to cause theabove-described bridging relationship to be present between clamp plates21, protrusions 31, and the legs 11. It is then a simple matter toassemble the pull rods 16 with pedals 14 and with the unshownstring-tensioning means, after which the guitar is placed upright in theplaying position shown in FIGURE 1. The abovedescribed assemblyoperation requires only a few seconds insofar as operation of clampbrackets 13 is concerned. Disassembly may be effected in a similar shortperiod of time by merely loosening the nuts 23 and 27, and pivoting theclamp plates 21 away from legs 11 by pressing the thumbs or fingersagainst cars 28.

Should the pedal board 12 be assembled with the legs 11 when the guitaris in upright or playing position, the enlarged ends 33 of the legsinsure that the brackets 13 will not slide downwardly. Such ends 33 maybe formed of rubber, and comprise cushions or coasters between the legsand the floor. Sliding of the brackets 13 up or down the legs is furtherprevented by the fact that the legs are not perfectly parallel butinstead are downwardly divergent.

It is pointed out that the leaf springs 29 play an important role in theabove-described functions. In the first place, such springs bias theplates 21 rearwardly so that they may be readily pivoted over the legs11. Furthermore, the springs 29 tend to maintain the plates 21 invarious desired pivoted positions during and after assembly anddisassembly of the pedal board 12 with the legs. Thus, during theabove-described assembly operation, the springs 29 insure that the clampplates 21 will remain in lock positions adjacent legs 11 (FIGURE 2) evenbefore the wing nuts are tightened.

Various embodiments of the present invention, in addition to what hasbeen illustrated and described in detail, may be employed withoutdeparting from the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A clamp bracket adapted to removably connect an end of apedal-mounting element to a leg of a pedal guitar, said clamp bracketcomprising a recessed back-up element shaped to fit partially around thelower end of said leg, said back-up element having a base portionsecured to an end of said pedal-mounting element, a clamp plate disposedadjacent said base portion penerally parallel to said pedal-mountingelement, means to pivotally connect said clamp plate to saidpedal-mounting element, a bolt associated with said pedal-mountingelement and extending through an arcuate slot in said clamp plate, saidslot being generally concentric with said pivotal-connecting means andpermitting pivotal movement of said clamp plate between a lockingposition adjacent the side of said leg remote from said back-up elementand a release position pivoted away from said leg, a wing nut threadedover said bolt and adapted to lock said clamp plate in any pivotedposition, means provided on said clamp plate for manual actuation by theoperator to pivot said clamp plate between its locking and releasepositions when said wing nut is in loose condition, and a spring seatedbetween said clamp plate and said base portion of said back-up elementto maintain said clamp plate biased away from said base portion of saidback-up element.

2. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said pivotal-connectingmeans also comprises a bolt extended through said end of saidpedal-mounting element and through a hole in said clamp plate, and inwhich a wing nut is provided on said last-named bolt.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 2, in which a protrusion isprovided on said base portion relatively remote from said leg and isadapted to engage said clamp plate intermediate said bolts, saidprotrusion providing a seat for an edge portion of said clamp plate whenthe other edge portion thereof is in linear engagement with said leg.

4. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said spring is a leafspring having a generally curved shape when in free condition, saidspring having spaced openings therein respectively receiving saidpivotal-connecting means and said bolt.

5. A clamp bracket adapted to removably connect an end of apedal-mounting element to a leg of a pedal guitar, said clamp bracketcomprising a back-up element shaped to fit partially around the lowerend of said leg, a clamp plate disposed generally parallel to saidpedalmounting element, means to pivotally connect said clamp plate tosaid pedal-mounting element, a bolt associated with said pedal-mountingelement and extending through an arcuate slot in said clamp plate, saidslot being generally concentric with said pivotal-connecting means andpermitting pivotal movement of said clamp plate between a lockingposition adjacent the side of said leg remote from said back-up elementand a release position pivoted away from said leg, a nut threaded oversaid bolt and adapted to lock said clamp plate in any pivoted position,means provided on said clamp plate for manual actuation by the operatorto pivot said clamp plate between its locking and release positions whensaid nut is in loose condition, and a spring seated between said clampplate and said pedal-mounting element to maintain said clamp platebiased away from said pedal-mounting element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS243,294 Norcross June 21, 1881 654,547 Kessler July 24, 1900 1,175,540Merrill et al. Mar. 14, 1916 1,550,549 Langlotz Aug. 18, 1925 2,066,380Ziembinski Jan. 5, 1937 2,459,102 Adair Jan. 11, 1949 2,676,044 Gormanet al. Apr. 20, 1954 2,897,013 Delp July 28, 1959 OTHER REFERENCESFender Fine Electric Instruments, 1957-58. Catalog pages 3 and 7 reliedupon.

